First off, I want to start by saying I didn't scalpel my lobes with the intention of 'cheating' my way to bigger lobes. My ears were pierced when i was a teenager (extremely crooked and too low), and with stretching them over the years, I encountered some mishaps that left me with puckered, periodically-angry holes. I had to take stretching up to 0g at a snail's pace.
At A Glance Author Laura Lawsey Contact Laura Lawsey@bme.anon IAM Laura Lethal When Six months ago Artist Jake Studio The Laboratory Tattoos Location Slidell, La. 70458 One of the things that became more painfully obvious the larger I went, was how low they were set on the lobes. Especially my right lobe which was also disturbingly crooked. Along the way I fell victom to some rather unfortunete stretching practices that made going to 0g always troublesome, and anything past that not really even possible.
Over the years i grew extremely irritated with my lobe situation, especially the last ten-working in various tattoo studios. Being limited to 0g in a tattoo studio can be really crushing for a plug whore. I started viewing my options.
Jake , a co-worker at the time at Laboratory Tattoos , began discussing the possibilities of re-directing my piercings by scalpeling the lobes. On my left lobe, he made a small incision up my lobe to re-direct the path of my piercing. On the right he had to make two incisions to remove a triangular piece of tissue, and even it with the other side. This took my ears instantly up to 1/2".
The healing process was relatively quick, but the first few days, as well as the procedure, was EXTREMELY PAINFULL!!! All this was done with a scalpel, without the benefit of any pain reliever on any level. It felt much like a tiny knife sawing away at an over cooked steak. Afterwards I got a rush that felt disturbingly like a pound of bricks throbbing upside my head from both sides...It hurt for days and bled alot. This is not a simple procedure by any means, and I was fortunete enough to have a very talented artist to perform the procedure, who was informative and checked with me quite often along the way.
My intention was not really to go past 5/8", 3/4" at the very most. I didn't want to really go too big, and felt going past that wouldn't be the right FOR ME. Due to the tissue loss my skin's become quite elastic and stretches EXTEMELY FAST now. It wasn't long before plugs i bought a week earlier were falling out. Even the lightest weight plugs seem to loosen up pretty fast. Now at 7/8" several months later(i don't really remember the date, but its all recorded in my web journals on inkednation and iam -via slide show-under Laura Lethal), I have to leave them out periodically throughout the day so they wont stretch any further. I tried to keep them at 3/4" with this method-but my body had other plans for me.
I would strongly advise anyone wanting to scalpel their lobes to consider how fast the skin stretches before going too big initially.
I have to be carefull what jewelry I choose to wear. Heavier plugs tend to loosen my ears and fall out. Some of my previous, heavier choices also seemed to thin out the bottom part of my lobe. Plastics seem to make them irritated after a spell, and even the lightest weight tunnel tends to fall out. I have to take special considerations with my jewelry choices at work, because it would be rather disgusting for my plug to fall out on a client during a procedure. Sometimes I get presented with the perfect pair of plugs, only to loose one somehow throughout the day and never find it again. Like my last pair recently. Pouring one out for my fallen plugs. All I have at the moment are these acrylics now-and my ears hate me for it. But the light bill and my car note has to come before fashion, so i weather the irritation for the moment. Though, there is a pair of wooden plugs at the shop I wouldn't mind owning...eh...I should pay the light bill first...
I'm pretty happy overall with the result of my lobes. They can be a pain in the ass at times, and they are not too pretty when the plugs are out, but the only healing problems i've had we're because of the pucked, torn parts-not along the incision. I have noticed a difference in public perception with my ears. When I tried to look for a job outside the Industry recently, i noticed jobs that may have normally tolerated my dreadlocks if up in a bun-and even my knuckle tattoos-hated my ears and wouldn't consider me. Taking them out to look for jobs illicited stares of disgust. It was scary, given I haven't finished college and have two children to feed on my own. Back at the studio, its not an issue-but you can only pay the bills as a body piercer for so long. Hopefully I'll be done with school before I have to go job hunting again.
I'm posting some pics of my lobes from today on my Iam page after I finishing writing this entry. Feel free to check them out or ask questions. Apologizes for any typos in advance.